Trucker YRC Pledges Real Estate To Pension Fund

NEW YORK (AP) — Trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc. on Thursday said it will pledge as collateral some real estate to a multi-employer pension plan in lieu of a planned $83 million second-quarter payment, as part of an ongoing effort to preserve cash.

The Overland Park, Kan.-based company finalized the deal with Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund amid growing chatter on Wall Street that the company might file for bankruptcy.

YRC has laid off thousands of workers, asked existing workers to take pay cuts and made deals with creditors to stave off debt payments it couldn't make. YRC has struggled to remain competitive as the trucking industry suffers from the worst demand in decades.

The agreement calls for the company to make the deferred payments to the pensions over three years beginning in January 2010.

Central States is the largest of the company's multi-employer defined benefit pension, making up 58 percent of its monthly pension obligations. YRC said it's also looking for other pension funds to make similar deals. It has deferred about $50 million in payments from these other funds so far.